The present invention relates to an improved chilled beverage display container for holding beverages and ice so that the beverages and unmelted ice are supported near the top of the container and separate from melted ice, or water.
Beverages, e.g., soft drinks or beer in cans or bottles, are often displayed at retail outlets in chilled containers, which are frequently located close to check-out counters to stimulate impulse purchases by departing customers. Normally, these containers are made of an open top receptacle having a bottom wall, a continuous upright side wall forming an interior cavity, and a drain positioned near the bottom wall to allow drainage of water. The receptacle cavity is filled with a quantity of beverages and ice to chill the beverages.
While these containers work well soon after filling, they become unsightly after the ice start to melt, resulting in emersion of the beverages. Moreover, removal becomes inconvenient since the purchaser must reach into the water to remove the beverages. This practice may also pose a health risk, since germs can be released from a customer's hand into the water. In addition, the distance that a customer can reach into a container is limited by the presence of the water and the distance to the bottom of the container, thus limiting the quantity of beverages that can be displayed.
Attempts have been made to address certain of these disadvantages. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,682 to Flum et. al. describes a chilled beverage container which includes a drainage tank beneath a beverage holder. As the ice in the beverage holder melts, the water drains into the tank, separating it from the ice and beverages.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,305 to Taub, describes a similar approach in which a beverage container has a lower sump zone comprised of spacers which support the beverages and ice above the water, which collects between the spacers.
Other chilled beverage containers are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,995,238 to King; 5,169,020 to Spamer; 4,982,840 and 5,048,171 to Bidwell; and 4,946,032 to Stoddard.
Basically, the containers described in all of the above patents, as well as most containers commercially available, include an outer container having a height of about 30 to 40 inches which rests on the floor, and an inner container supported within the outer container. The bottom of this inner container is substantially above the bottom of the outer container, so that beverages near the bottom can be reached by customers. This configuration, while improving accessibility of the beverages, limits the number of beverages that can be loaded, thus requiring frequent reloading of the container.
The present application describes an improved chilled beverage container which allows the user to maintain beverages and unmelted ice separate from water formed by melting ice, thus in, proving the appearance of, and ease of access to, the beverages. It also allows loading with a large number of beverages, thus reducing the number of times it must be reloaded. Since the customers do not have to reach into the water to retrieve the beverages, the health risk is also reduced.